Leaving on a Jet Plane

As in the words of John Denver, I'll be leaving on a Jet Plane to Mexico tomorrow morning for our family summer vacation. One week of sun, sand and ice cold Coronas, should get me ready for many, many wonderful photo shoots when I get back!

Of course my camera was the first thing to be packed and I hope to be able to capture some interesting, fun, beautiful, breathtaking, amazing images on our trip!

I'll see you all then!

The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.  ~St. Augustine

I'm One!

This is "part two" of little Miss J's photo shoot. She turned one not too long ago and her mother wanted to take some candid pictures of her enjoying a pretty cupcake, which we thought would be better done in the studio.

Miss J was so ladylike and positively relaxed about it all, it took us quite by surprise! I had suggested to her Mom to bring at least 2 cupcakes, just in case she got through it too quickly or the first cupcake got smashed too fast....I thought I'd only have a very short window to get some nice shots, but no, she gave me plenty of time to let the shutter click! Thank you Miss J!

Before we let her loose on the cupcake though, we took a few shots with different props. I figured since I had her there, I might as well get a few other things in too!

Sibling Joy!

I love my job!

Meet Miss J and Master J - the two most photographed kids in the Suwanee area! Their Mom just adores pictures, which is totally fine by me!! These two kept me on my toes during our recent shoot at Sims Lake Park on a beautiful Sunday morning.

Boy, can a 1 year old move!! Funny how you forget these stages. But she was so much fun and I think the pictures completely capture her joy at being finally able to walk and move freely, there was nothing holding her back. She kept putting her little arms up as Mom called "I'm one!".

Her adoring big brother also did well, although I got the distinct impression that he would have preferred playing soccer with his Dad....I don't blame him! Still I think I got some wonderful shots of him too.

Enjoy these pictures, I had such fun doing them!

The Gift of Hope - Step 2

After registering with the National Marrow Donor Program a couple of weeks ago, my tissue-typing kit arrived last Tuesday! All I had to do was use the buccal swabs they supplied (4 of them) to wipe the inside of my cheek and then send them back in the supplied envelope - and that's it. They will now run the necessary tests and enter my data into their registry.

I may or may never be a match, but at least I have given hope to millions who could be saved with a bone marrow transplant, and that makes me feel good.

It would be amazing to get a phone call saying I was a match, but even if I never get that call, I have done what I can.

For now I wait and see.

http://www.marrow.org/

Going Public

Last Friday I took the plunge and "went public"....or at least it felt like that to me! I didn't realize I would feel so vulnerable, it was like I was exposing my soul to the world.

I donated a photo shoot to be auctioned off in a silent auction at my son's preschool Spring Fling. As part of the donation, I was allowed to set up a table showcasing my fledgling business. I had fun planing my display all week and received many compliments for it!

Thank you to everybody who contributed, helped out and was at the event - it really meant the world to know I had that much support, I feel truly blessed! 

I had some printed & framed pictures & multi-images, all the cards my friends have created with my images, as well as a presentation on a monitor - and of course I had to have some beautiful roses!

And so that was my first step in "going public".....exhilarating!

"From small beginnings come great things." - Proverb

The Gift of Hope

Today I (finally) did something I've been meaning to do for years.

I registered to become a bone marrow donor on "Be The Match Registry operated by the National Marrow Donor Program^®".

As some may know, my father has a rare blood disease called Chronic Lymphatic Leukemia. He was offered a bone marrow transplant as part of his treatment (currently the only way to cure CLL), but we both believe that the risk is too great at his age. They had already matched him with several donors and I'm very, very thankful to those people, even though we are not taking them up on the most selfless gesture anybody could make.

So now, the very least I can do, is join these donors in an attempt to save someones life and give them hope for a future.

If you are interested in joining me on this "journey of hope" you can find all the information here: www.marrow.org

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow."  -  Albert Einstein